Northern Lights Nordic-Baltic Film Festival

What Northern Lights Nordic-Baltic Film Festival does

The Northern Lights Nordic-Baltic Film Festival is a private non-profit cultural organization founded in 2015 by Volia Chajkouskaya with the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania. The festival operates primarily under Estonian jurisdiction, with a small core team of 5 employees. It runs a single annual festival across three physical cities — Vilnius (Lithuania), Warsaw (Poland), and Tallinn (Estonia) — plus an online component, with the 2025 edition scheduled for November 3–23 under the thematic banner "Just Kids."

The festival's core offering is a curated programming slate spanning Nordic, Baltic, Belarusian, and Ukrainian cinema, organized into competitive and curated sub-programs including the Belarusian Competition (evaluated by an international jury), the International Program, Ukraine Mon Amour (in its fourth year), Belarusian Out of Competition, and the Resilience Special Program. Online screenings are delivered through the Videolevels streaming platform operated by Babahh Innovation OÜ, an Estonian-registered technology provider. The festival also runs industry events (e.g., Nordics Explain Warsaw), a three-tier accreditation program (Press, Industry Start, Guest), and maintains an archive of past editions since 2015.

The revenue model is a hybrid of ticketed sales (online and in-person screenings), accreditation fees, and nonprofit support via donations (Donorbox) and institutional grants from the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Culture of Estonia. The festival's primary customer segments are the Belarusian diaspora and international audiences seeking access to Nordic-Baltic cinema, Belarusian independent filmmakers working under political pressure, journalists and cultural media, emerging filmmakers and film students, and culture and education professionals. Geographic coverage spans Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands since 2018, Greenland since 2019), the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), Poland (for screenings), and cultural-diaspora reach into Belarus and Ukraine.

Name

Northern Lights Nordic-Baltic Film Festival

Legal name

Northern Lights Film Festival

Website

https://northernlightsff.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Northern Lights is a non-profit annual film festival founded in 2015, presenting curated Nordic, Baltic, Belarusian, and Ukrainian cinema across Vilnius, Warsaw, Tallinn, and an online platform, serving the Belarusian diaspora, independent filmmakers, and international audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Film Festival / Cultural Events

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Exhibition (51213)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Film Festivals & Festival Organizers (MPADAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Screening Rooms & Cinematheques (Nonprofit/Institutional) (MPADAKAF), Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG), Community Theatre & Storytelling Festivals (MPAGAEAI)

Keywords

• Film festival curation
• International cinema events
• Nordic Baltic films
• Belarusian independent cinema
• Cultural film programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Vilnius

HQ country

Lithuania

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: The festival sells tickets for both online and offline screenings through its website and the Videolevels platform. Online pre-screenings and in-person cinema screenings are available for purchase.
2. Donations and Sponsorship: The festival relies on public donations through Donorbox platform and support from institutional partners like the Nordic Council of Ministers and Ministry of Culture of Estonia to fund operations.
3. Accreditation: Accreditation fees for Press, Industry Start, and Guest categories, though the festival does not publicly disclose specific pricing for accreditation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Annual international film festival presenting Nordic, Baltic, Belarusian, and Ukrainian cinema through curated programs (Belarusian Competition, Ukraine Mon Amour, Resilience, Just Kids, Belarusian Out of Competition) delivered via in-cinema screenings across Vilnius, Warsaw, and Tallinn plus online streaming through the Videolevels platform. Operates as an independent non-profit cultural organization supported by ticket sales, public donations via Donorbox, and institutional partners including the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Culture of Estonia.

Product overview

Northern Lights Nordic-Baltic Film Festival is an annual film festival (11th edition in 2025) that operates as a unified platform presenting films from Northern Europe, the Baltic states, Belarus, and Ukraine. The core offering consists of competitive and curated programs including the Belarusian Competition (evaluated by international jury), the International Program 'Just Kids', Ukraine Mon Amour, Belarusian Out of Competition Program, and the Resilience Special Program. The festival combines online streaming via the Videolevels platform with offline screenings across Vilnius, Warsaw, and Tallinn. Supporting offerings include industry Events (such as Nordics Explain Warsaw), Accreditation Programs (Press, Industry Start, Guest), and an Archive of past editions. The festival runs annually in November, with the 2025 edition themed 'Just Kids' and held from November 3-23.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Belarusian Competition: Competition program featuring Belarusian independent cinema with international jury evaluation
• Ukraine Mon Amour
• Resilience
• Belarusian Out of Competition
• International Program 'Just Kids'

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Nordic Council of Ministers Office in LithuaniacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015The Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania helped found the Northern Lights Film Festival in 2015. This institutional support established the festival as a bridge between Nordic/Baltic cinema and Belarusian audiences.
• Ministry of Culture of EstoniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Ministry of Culture of Estonia is listed as a supporter and institutional partner of the Northern Lights Film Festival, providing recognition and support for the festival's cultural mission.
• Babahh Innovation OÜ (Videolevels)coreTechnology or IntegrationVideolevels, operated by Babahh Innovation OÜ, provides the online streaming platform for the Northern Lights Film Festival. The platform handles digital ticket sales, online screenings, and the streaming infrastructure for the festival's online component. The company is registered in Estonia with registration number 14113082.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF): Major film festival operating in one of Northern Lights' three physical cities (Tallinn); both serve Baltic and Nordic cinema audiences and run competitive programs; PÖFF is a larger, broader incumbent, but operates in the same Baltic exhibition and festival ecosystem.
• Warsaw Film Festival: Long-running international film festival in Warsaw — one of Northern Lights' three physical screening cities; directly competes for Warsaw-based cinema audiences, regional press, and institutional partnership opportunities.
• Vilnius International Film Festival (Kino Pavasaris): Principal international film festival in Vilnius, Northern Lights' flagship physical city; both target Lithuanian and Belarusian diaspora audiences with curated international cinema programming.
• Nordisk Panorama Film Festival: Dedicated Nordic film festival focused on Nordic fiction and documentary features; closely matches Northern Lights' Nordic programming scope and serves as a regional pipeline for films curated into Northern Lights' programs.

Broad incumbents

• Gothenburg Film Festival: Largest film festival in the Nordic region (Sweden); shares the Nordic cinema programming overlap and Nordic Council ecosystem that anchors Northern Lights, though at a much larger scale and broader audience.
• Camerimage: Major international cinematography festival historically held in Poland (Toruń/Bydgoszcz); overlaps with Northern Lights on Polish territory and industry-event programming targeting filmmakers.

Emerging players

• Docudays UA: Ukrainian documentary human rights film festival; comparable to Northern Lights' Ukraine Mon Amour program in serving displaced/conflict-affected filmmakers and diaspora audiences in the region.
• Five Flavours Film Festival: Warsaw-based festival focused on Asian cinema; comparable as a niche, curator-driven international film festival operating in one of Northern Lights' cities with a similarly small team and diaspora-oriented audience model.
• Minsk International Film Festival (Listapad): Historic Belarusian film festival originally part of the same Minsk-based ecosystem Northern Lights served before relocating; remains a relevant comparand for Belarusian-language film programming and diaspora audience appeal.

Regional players

• Baltic Pearl Film Festival: Regional film festival covering Baltic cinema audiences; competes for similar Nordic-Baltic content, festival accreditation press, and diaspora viewers across the same geographic corridor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@NorthernLightsFilmFestival
• Facebookfacebook.com/northernlightsff
• Instagraminstagram.com/northernlightsff
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/northernlightsff

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Northern Lights Nordic-Baltic Film Festival